Officials: 'Disney Tattoo Guy' attacked, imprisoned woman

Upper Saucon Disney fanatic is arrested at Walt Disney World hotel.

George C. Reiger Jr., shown with some of his 2,200 Disney tattoos, has been… (Morning Call File Photo )

July 08, 2011|By Daniel Patrick Sheehan, Of The Morning Call

George Reiger's Disney fairy tale took a dark turn this week. The Upper Saucon Township man, famed for the head-to-toe Disney tattoos he planned to have removed after meeting his dream girl, was charged with two felonies after a domestic dispute in a Walt Disney World hotel room Tuesday morning.

In an arrest affidavit, the Orange County, Fla., sheriff's office said Reiger, 57, and an unidentified woman he referred to as his fiancée had an argument that turned physical.

The woman told deputies that Reiger grabbed her, pushed her onto a bed and got on top of her, holding his hand over her mouth. He also blocked the door when she tried to leave and damaged her laptop computer, clothes and other belongings, the affidavit says. Reiger told deputies he held the woman down on the bed as he tried to get her to talk to him.

Reiger, who could not be reached for comment, was charged with felonious false imprisonment and criminal mischief and misdemeanor battery. He posted bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim, records show.

Over the course of 40 years, Reiger turned himself into a walking billboard for Walt Disney, with some 2,200 tattooed characters decorating his 6-foot-2-inch frame.

He has said his Disney passion cost him about $50,000 annually, including travel costs to Disney parks and paying for collectibles. He's been to Disney parks hundreds of times. In a 2006 interview, he attributed his fixation to a relatively unhappy childhood. He was raised in Easton by his grandparents, who Reiger said were unable to relate to the emotional needs of a young boy. "Disney raised me," he said.

But last year, the former postal worker said he had found the love of his life at a Disney convention in California and was giving up his obsession for her.

He sold his memorabilia at auction — raking in $60,000, with Internet bids coming from as far as Egypt and Austria — and said he was going to move south and have his tattoos removed.

It isn't clear if he started that process. In his arrest mug shot, tattoos are visible around his collar.

Reiger's story was never quite what it seemed. He routinely told admirers he had been divorced six times because his wives couldn't compete with Disney. But last year, he told media outlets he had never been married, and only used the anecdote to make his story more compelling. However, Lehigh County court records indicate he and his wife of 13 years divorced in August.